


You Know It's Christmas (My Heart Is Open Wide)

by messofgorgeouschaos



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: A few seconds of angst, Bondage, Famous Harry, Fluff, Holidays, Love at First Sight, Lust at First Sight, M/M, Pining, Saturday Night Live - Freeform, Sorta Famous Louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-18 00:37:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16984818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/messofgorgeouschaos/pseuds/messofgorgeouschaos
Summary: In which Louis is a cast member at Saturday Night Live, and a past airport encounter comes back to haunt him before their Christmas episode.





	You Know It's Christmas (My Heart Is Open Wide)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SadaVeniren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadaVeniren/gifts).



> HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, SADA!! I hope you like it, and I'm so happy to have an amazing friend like you in my life <3
> 
> All mistakes are my own and I'll go fix them later. Please don't post this anywhere else. Title comes from one of the best Christmas songs SNL has given the world.

  **October 2014**

_“Flight 282 to New York has been delayed due to weather. Please stand by for updates.”_

Louis groaned as he sank back into the sofa, the soft fabric of his joggers slipping against the leather. He should have been half way across the Atlantic right now, taking a nap in his first-class seat, snuggled under a blanket, probably dreaming about Willy Cartier, but no. Here he was. Still stuck at Heathrow, still hungover from last night, still in desperate need of a nap.

He really shouldn’t have let Calvin take him out for more drinks after Stan and his bride left but given that he rarely gets to see his friends on this side of the pond, he allowed it. But damn him if he’s ever going to get that pissed again. His liver was probably the most excited about moving far away from his partying friends a few years ago.

At least he was in the Executive lounge, away from the bustling noise of the terminals. And thankfully, there weren’t many people when he arrived, and as flights were being called over the speakers, more people filtered out than were coming in. Not that he actually knew how full these lounges would get. Normally he would be flying economy but buying your plane tickets while smoking a blunt and Niall yelling “treat yo self!” in the background changed that pretty quickly.

Ever since he decided to move to New York and work for Saturday Night Live, he enjoyed the perks of having more money in his wallet and doing what he loves most: making people laugh. He was in a comedy group with Liam and Niall at the University of Manchester, but once a producer from SNL had asked them to come audition in New York after seeing their stand up, they hopped on the next flight to JFK. They didn’t think they would actually be cast, but Louis convinced them that they would be kicking themselves for years to come if they didn’t take up the opportunity to audition.

But they _did_ get cast, and it changed his life for the better. Niall and Liam preferred to be writers behind the scenes while appearing in some skits here and there, but Louis found himself as a featured player right off the bat. He was well loved by the cast, finding friends in all places and even becoming a favorite of Lorne Michaels, the creator of the show, but he also became the British sweetheart for the American audience. “That one boy with the accent that you’d love to take home to your grandmother,” as Colin Jost would often introduce him during the Weekend Update segments.

And being one of the first openly gay male cast members had its perks too, with his involvement in LGBT charities and news stories that he would help highlight in skits, earned him an “icon” status within his community. That and the fact Buzzfeed wouldn’t stop writing articles thirsting over him, with some questionable interest on his ankles for some reason, which got straight men even questioning their sexuality whenever his skits would go viral. If his twitter mentions were anything to go by.  

But now, all he really wanted was to sleep in a relatively comfortable place and just get back to New York. Flying back on a Sunday would ensure he would be there Monday morning, but a hurricane just had to hit that weekend, essentially grounding all flights to JFK. He never missed a day of work and didn’t want to start anytime soon.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket, quickly taking it out and swiping the screen to see a text from Liam.

**Liam: Think you’re going to make it to the studio tomorrow? I just heard about the flight delays**

Louis tried to do the math in his head as he calculated the time he’d land in NYC. He assumed he still had a few good hours left for him to have a decent sleep before heading down to 30 Rock; assuming his flight would be leaving within the next two hours.

**Louis: I think I’ll manage. Let you know if anything changes**

He pocketed his phone, sighing as he rubbed his temples. He needed something to drink and he needed it now.

Slinging his bag on his back, he walked over to the bar, hoping at least a beer would take the edge off. Wasn’t that supposed to cure hangovers? The bar was empty except for a woman that was clearly on a business call at the far end of the bar, yelling at some poor soul through the phone. He decided to take the farthest seat from that.

“A Stella, if you don’t mind” he asked once the bartender came over, leaning his forehead on his palm, trying not to groan aloud. This hangover _might_ have been worth it if he got some action last night, but he was doomed to stay single forever. He didn’t even like hookups per say. He rather enjoyed the relationship aspect, not just someone to share your bed for the night. But he didn’t find that often, which made getting laid harder than usual.

That’s where he found his life lacking, he realized, already feeling the buzz of the alcohol. Life was great, but he still wouldn’t mind sharing it with someone. Having someone to come home to. Who knew beer would get him this sentimental in the morning?

Just as he was about to call the bartender over for some napkins, he felt someone sit a seat away from him, probably to stay away from the woman as well, but didn’t want to look in his direction.

“Could I have a martini please?” the slow, deep voice came, and he might be having a pounding headache, but it took every muscle viciously pulling him back from turning to see who the voice belonged to. He knew from the bottom of his heart to the tip of his dick that a voice like that had to have an equally beautiful face.

Eventually his willingness to take a peek overpowered the rest of him, and he tried to subtly look over to the man while he took a swing at the bottle. Apparently, his eyes were not normal and instead of trying to find his face, they landed on the man’s waist. And he was not disappointed. The man was dressed in tight blue jeans, his thighs on full display as they pushed against the stretch of the fabric.

Louis couldn’t decide if he wanted them around his face or wanted to fuck them. Both. Both would be fine.

After ogling them enough, his eyes wandered down the limb to his shoes, which were worn Chelsea boots.

But then his mind realized why he was staring at the first place, and he had to hold back a gasp as his eyes finally landed on his face. He looked young, probably younger than Louis but not too young. His hair seemed to be long, judging by the bun that was sitting on his head. There was a rebel curl however, dangling near his ear in a perfect spiral, as if it had just come out of hot curling rollers. The man had plush lips, so pink he could have sworn he was wearing lipstick. He wouldn’t mind tasting them to find out. And his jawline… almost made his mouth water. His jaw looked like it was hand carved by angels, angels that clearly knew what Louis' dream man looked like.

 _Thank you gay angels,_ he thought to himself.

In short, the man was beautiful. So beautiful he wanted to cry, to quote Rachel in that one “Friends” episode.

He must have been staring for too long, because he eventually found himself making eye contact with said man, who yes, turned out to have an entirely equally beautiful face to match the voice. And he got to stare at the deepest pair of green eyes he'd ever had the graces to see. Green eyes so warm, he felt his heart burning through his chest as he waded deeper into those green pools. Was it too early to propose?

But this came with a price, of course. At some point he managed to turn all of his body to face the man and inspect him, and now he was full on facing him, clearly just having ogled him. He felt some shame, as a normal person, but god he’d pay any price to do that again. But that little twinge of shame did outweigh his instincts, and he knew he had to get away.

And by the looks of things, he was probably sitting there frozen, his lips around the bottle rim, staring at him like he was a proper snack. Who wouldn’t find that attractive?

“Sorry,” Louis blinked and coughed into his fist as he faced the bar again. “I was um- yeah. Hope you have a lovely day!”

Great. Just wonderful. Already scared off the most beautiful man you’ve seen, and probably will ever see. He quickly went to pick up his things and started to leave.

“Wait-” he heard behind him and turned to see the man holding onto his elbow, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “You can stay. I’m not offended.”

Louis was still trying to process that the beautiful angel was currently holding onto him, which meant he wanted him to stay, and really that was just one step away from walking down that wedding aisle. Progress.

“You want to talk to strangers that stare at you for too long, Curly?” Louis chuckled, hoping he didn’t give away his nuptial thoughts in the process.

It looked like the other man was trying to hold back a laugh, and oh dear. He had dimples. _Dimples._ Can he just get on one knee and buy the ring later? “Did you just call me ‘curly’?” his future husband asked.

Louis felt his cheeks getting warm. “Well what else am I supposed to call you if I don’t know your name?” he answered as he licked his lips, sitting back down in his chair. He would have expected his would be fiancé to let go of him once he got what he wanted, but his hand was still perfectly perched on his elbow, and he couldn’t say he minded.

The man blinked back at him as his smiled faded, wonder replacing the laughter in his eyes. “You don’t know who I am?”

Who he was? Was he supposed to know him? Oh. He gets it. The angels have clearly sent this man to him for all the good karma he deserves. And he's not complaining. Though a name tag on him would have been nice or something.

Louis scoffed as he turned to fully face him now, in perfect view of ogling and now with permission. “Of course I don’t. I don’t know every bloody person on this earth. Especially cute strangers like yourself.”

He knew he was laying on the charm now, and he really had no shame on it. They didn’t know each other, and he was never going to see this man again. Their wedding was only in his dreams really.

The man grinned, a dimple appearing on both cheeks with a flush accompanying them. “You think I’m cute?”

“Of course I do,” Louis playfully rolling his eyes as he fixed his hair. “I’m probably laying it on you pretty thick, Curly. Sorry. I’m just hung over and didn’t except to see someone so…,” he looked him up and down, “ _you_ when I woke up today. Especially spending my time waiting for my fucking plane to take off.”

“I don’t mind,” the man chuckled, his smile clearly reflecting it. “Where are you going?”

“New York,” he said as he called the bartender over. “I live there now. My best mate’s wedding was yesterday, and I drank way too much for my own good.”

The other man giggled. “Didn’t get in a shag I figure?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he smirked as he took a sip. “But no, I did not. I didn’t fancy anyone there. I just focused on getting pissed,” he looked over at the man one more time, noticed how low the buttons on his shirt were, almost enough to see his nipples. It had a colored print on it, a mix of pineapples and flamingos. “But tell me, Curly, where are you off to? Hawaii?”

He felt like he was talking too much for his own good, and at least wanted to know a bit more of this beautiful stranger.

The man shook his head. “I’ve got a flight for Los Angeles in a few,” he answered.

“That’s pretty far,” he murmured. He couldn’t remember the last time he was in LA, but he recalls not liking it for some reason. Probably the heat. “Visiting?”

The man shook his head. “Work mostly. I have a house there, but my real home is here in England. Home is where my cats are, as people say,” he said with a grin. “And that’s why I hate leaving them, but someone has to provide for their life of luxury.”

Cats. The man had cats. Of course he did. And spoiled them rotten, probably.

“I pinned you as a cat person,” Louis laughed. “How many do you have?”

Louis didn’t peg himself as a cat person, he was more into dogs if he was honest, but if this man loved cats then he would be a cat dad on the spot.

“Three and looking to adopt another,” he said proudly. “I got my first when I was about ten years old, so she's an old lady now but no less fluffy and sassy as when she was a kitten. Then I got her two little brothers about two years ago, so now I have three pet children at home,” he watched as the man bit his lip, “do you have any cats?”

Louis shook his head in endearment. “Sadly, no. I just have my pet fish in a massive tank in my apartment, but I wouldn’t mind rescuing some cats in the future.”

“Really?” the man beamed. Louis nodded, grinning back in response.

Was that enough to show his interest? He hoped so, judging by the smile the other man was trying to hide as he twirled the olive stem in his drink.

There was a lull in the conversation, but Louis didn’t panic as he usually did when this happened with strangers. The silence felt comfortable, but maybe it had to do with the fact they wouldn’t see each other again, so embarrassment was really off the table.

He reached towards his drink, taking another swing of it.

“What are you drinking?” he heard the man say.

Louis frowned, turning the bottle towards him. “Stella Artois.”

“Can I try?” he asked, eyes looking wide. “Yours?” as if it wasn’t clear enough what he wanted.

Some rule about not letting complete strangers drink out of your cup, or bottle in this case, had to exist. But really, where did rules apply with this man.

The other man didn’t look like he had was coughing up his lungs or running a fever, so Louis easily handed him the bottle, watching as the man carefully brought the rim to his lips.

Well. He was an alien. Sent to bust his balls. Instead of being a regular human being and simply pursing his lips to drink, the man opened his mouth in anticipation, holding his tongue out as if to bring the bottle closer that way. He proceeded to lick the rim before closing his lips over it, hollowing his cheeks as he took a swing. It was _obscene_.

And Louis could feel the effect in his joggers.

“Is that really how you drink from bottles?” he swallowed as he continued to stare.

“Hm?” the man hummed. He pulled the bottle away, blinking back at him as if he had no idea what Louis was saying.

“The way you drink from a bottle,” he said, “you basically are giving it a blow job.” He didn’t mean to say that last part, but his filter was beginning to lose its power the longer he was in the presence of this man. “Sucking it and…” he trailed off.

And after saying such a comment, he would have expected some embarrassment coming from the guilty party. Instead he found a sprinkle of blush over his cheeks, and his pupils dilated so much the green could barely be seen anymore.

“I’ll suck on anything,” the man asserted. And that did it.

Within five minutes, between the rush to tip the bartender, gathering their things, and not following each other so closely to not arouse suspicion, Louis found himself backed against the cream wall of one of the private bathrooms with the man on his knees in front of him, the soft glow from the lamps almost making the moment sensual.

“Please,” he heard the man say, noticing how more buttons of his shirt had come undone.

“Shit,” he whispered as he watched him pull down his sweats to reveal his thickening cock, already wet at the head. He had been itching for something from the man, and the relief of receiving it was almost too much to bare. He didn’t know if he could describe a blow job as magical before it even really started, but that was exactly what it was. He could literally see the other man’s mouth water at the sight of his cock, his tongue gleaming with wetness as he leaned forward to taste.

And to no surprise, he did exactly what he had done to the bottle. He licked around the head, taking his time this time, almost as if he was savoring the taste, all while Louis was trying to keep his moans down as he closed his eyes, relishing in the feel. And almost as if the man was a former, or current for all he knows, porn star, he started to enthusiastically bob his head over him, sucking on his head as he came up, hollowing his cheeks just the same.

It was obscene really. Thankfully, he was much thicker than the bottle neck, and seeing the way the man’s lips were stretched out over him made him come on the spot. He tried to warn the man, pulling on his hair to try and get the point across, but almost as if he was perfectly fine swallowing for a man he just met, the man just brought him deeper into his mouth. Louis felt his head touch the back of his throat, and once he moaned around him, he saw white as he came hard.  

“Jesus-“ he panted, trying to get some air back into his lungs once he felt like he could speak again. “You’re really good at this, aren’t you?”

He saw the man try to hide his smile against his still exposed thigh. He couldn’t believe the man that had been begging for his cock a few minutes ago and gave him one of the filthiest blow jobs of his life, was shy after doing so.

That shouldn’t have caused him to become more endeared, but it did. Sue him.

“Come here,” he said as he carefully pulled him up, tucking himself back in with his other hand. The other man looked thoroughly debauched, with the glassiness of his eyes and the way his curls had cascaded down his face. Somehow his bun was lost during his ministrations, and it was almost embarrassing that neither of them noticed until that moment. But judging by his panting, the man desperately needed some release.

“You don’t need me to-um” Louis said as he nodded down to his crotch. The bulge was noticeably there; the skinny jeans doing very little to conceal it.  

“I’m-” he babbled, no chance of sentences forming. He felt him push his hardness towards Louis’ open hand, and that was enough direction of what he needed.

With one hand on around his waist, he started to feel around, wanting to feel how stiff he was for him. Just as he was about to pull the zipper down, he heard the other man let out a high moan and looked up to see his eyes shut as he bit into his lower lip. He was surprised no blood was coming out.

The man just fell over him, resting his chest against his, their crotches directly touching, both of them spent and soft. Louis felt every breath he took, feeling the hot puffs of air against his neck. Even though he shouldn’t, he couldn’t help getting a whiff of him. He smelled like a vanilla cupcake, if he had to be honest. The sweetness filling his senses as he proceeded to wrap his arms around him. He was always down for a cuddle, especially post orgasm, but most men weren’t up for that when it was a hookup. But this angel made no movement to get away from his embrace, even moving closer to make it more comfortable.

Even if it was a hookup, it didn’t feel like one.

“That fast huh?” Louis giggled softly, trying to break the silence once he felt the other man caught his breath.

“Shut up,” the other man whispered against him, giggling as well. Louis couldn’t help but love the sound. “You’re just _that_ fit.”

Fit? Well then. He did fancy him as well, in case the blow job wasn’t enough to push that through.

 _“Announcing flight 378 to Los Angeles. Boarding will start in five minutes,"_ came from above them.

Louis sighed, not really wanting to let go of his future husband. “I guess that’s you?”

“Yeah,” the man said hoarsely. Louis almost smirked at the thought that he caused that. And cause him to come like he did. Almost _untouched_.

“Do you want me to help you clean up?” he said as he gently pushed him away, regretting every second of it. “Can’t have you with a mess in your pants for twelve hours.”

The man gave a soft nod as he watched Louis reach over and grab some tissues while he unbuckled his jeans. It took an effort to peel them off, but they both managed to undress him in time.

“You’re ‘uge,” Louis groaned, noticed how it twitched in his hand. “And I didn’t even get a chance to have this in my mouth?”

“Sorry,” the other man murmured, and Louis looked up to see a smile on his lips that made him look like he wasn’t sorry at all. Bastard. He quickly cleaned him, hoping it didn’t turn them both on for a round two. There was only so much his cock could go through in a short time span.

“I still feel like I owe you something,” Louis grumbled as he tucked him back in. Even if it was just a onetime encounter, he didn’t want to see like a selfish lover. He would gladly get on his knees for this man. And do so much more.

“You gave me enough,” the man murmured as he checked his zipper. “One touch and I was gone.”

“Well,” he purred. “Imagine what else I could have done with you, if we had more time. And a bed”

The other man could only respond with an audible gulp, unable to look away from him.

Louis gazed into those beautiful, beautiful green eyes once more, probably for the last time. The man had no idea he was already planning their wedding that would never see the light of day, but he could dream. Dream he could start a life with this alien man. And spend more of their time exploring what they could do between the sheets.

But as his eyes left the green ones and settled on his lips, the plump, bottom one still glistening with spit or… other bodily fluids, he could only think about tasting them. A shame he hadn’t already, when his mouth had been somewhere else on him. He began to lean closer, hoping to capture them, hoping the other man wanted the same.

_“Calling all passengers for Flight 378 to Los Angeles.”_

And that broke the spell. The other man’s eyes shifted, and he took a step back, looking down as he adjusted his clothing. He watched as the man quickly tied his hair up again, looking in the mirror as he adjusted it.

“I guess it was a good thing my hair was up then,” he murmured, catching Louis’ eyes in the glass. There was a softness in them again, blanketed with earnest as if he wanted to say something else.

Before Louis could reply, the man walked out of the private bathroom, slowly closing the door behind him.

“Well,” he murmured, “goodbye future husband.”

He took a deep breath before leaning back against the wall, realizing he would rather sit down. After placing some paper towels on the floor, he took a couple of deep breaths as he went over what happened in the last half hour. That was probably the fastest hookup he ever had, and the man was gone in an instant. Which only reminded him of why he hated hookups in the first place.

Running his hands through his hair, he shot a quick text to Liam.

**Louis: Is it possible to fall in love with a guy who gave you a blow job? I might marry him. He’s so pretty.**

**Liam: You’re going to propose to someone just because they gave you a blow job? I didn’t know your dry spell was that bad.**

Louis found himself frowning.

**Louis: Not just because of that (but the way he sucked on my cock was enough to be in a porno, Li!!!!!) but I was talking to him before and I just liked him a lot. He deserves to be mine.**

**Liam: What’s his name?**

**Louis: Isn’t “Future Mr. Tomlinson” enough?**

**Liam: ………. you didn’t even get his name……**

**Liam: and you call /me/ a horn dog**

**Liam: at least I know the names of my hookups**

But this wasn’t just a hookup, he thought. Maybe by definition, but it wasn’t. Soon enough he’ll be back in New York, and he’ll just have to forget about his pretty mystery man.

Life went back to normal once he finally made it back home. The storm had subsided, and by Monday morning he was ready to start the new week. They met the host of the week and the musical guest, and life went on.

But the man from the airport was still at the back of his mind, still kicking himself for never getting his name. Maybe he’ll meet him again some day. Maybe not. Probably not.

 

**December 2014**

“Your usual, Louis?”

“You know,” he said as he looked at the specials menu. “I might just try something different today. Give me a peppermint cappuccino, love.”

The barista smiled. “Right away, sir.”

He had a usual when it came to his morning coffee order on his way to work, but he had the sudden urge to try something new and deciding to taste whatever the cute holiday chalkboard was advertising wouldn’t be so bad. And once he had the warm drink in his hands and gave it a sip, it was worth the adventurous jump from his usual.

He continued to walk down until 30 Rock came into view, excited for what the day will bring. It was the last episode of the year, and since it was the holiday one, it was usually the most enjoyable one with surprise guests and interesting skits. Today he would meet the host, tomorrow discuss more skits and probably meet the musical guest, Wednesday through Friday they would start shooting some of the prerecorded shorts, and Saturday was the grand finale.

As much as he loved his job, he was looking forward to the long break to recharge before the new year started.

After exiting the elevator and heading for Studio 8H, he greeted Pete and a couple other cast members as he walked down the hallway to one of the main meeting rooms. As he glanced up at one of the clocks on the wall, he figured he still had a solid hour before the meeting would start, but he’d like to know who was already tere and run through some skit ideas beforehand.

Before he made it to the large room, he found Lauren, one of his favorite interns since she reminded him of his younger self, walking towards him down the hallway, singing along to a song that was coming from her phone, which she was currently looking at as she typed away.

 _“He told me I was never looking for a friend, maybe you can swing by my room around ten, baby bring a lemon and a bottle of gin, we’ll be in between the sheets till the late a.m, baby if you wanted me then you should have just said, he’s singing-“_ she stopped in her tracks as she saw Louis approach, the music still continuing to fill the air. “Hi, Lou! How’s your morning?”

“Not as good as yours,” he chuckled, still listening to the lyrics. Something about the song seemed familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. The voice sounded remarkable, though, and he’d wouldn’t mind hearing more. “What song is that?”

“Oh this?” she looked down as she paused it. “It’s ‘Don’t’ by Harry Styles.”

“Harry Styles?” he asked with a head tilt. He definitely never heard that name before.

He watched as her eyes widened. “You don’t know who Harry Styles is?”

“Apparently not,” he laughed. “Am I supposed to? Is he that famous?”

Lauren blinked back at him. “But, Lou-“

“Louis is that you?” he heard Liam call from one of the rooms near them, “Come in here!”

He turned towards the open door that it came through and quickly shot an apologetic smile to Lauren as he turned back to face her. “Sorry, love. You can give me an entire run down of the musicians I should know later.”

He quickly walked to the room and found Liam and Niall sitting at a large table, sharing some bagels between themselves.

“I thought it was you,” Liam said as he spread some cream cheese over the bagel. “Want one?”

Louis shook his head as he walked over to take a seat across from them. “No, thanks, lads. I remembered to have breakfast today.”

“Was Lauren out there with you?” Niall asked through a mouthful of his own bagel.

Louis nodded. “She was singing a song that I quite liked actually,” he said as he put his feet up on one of the empty chairs. “Said it was by a singer named Harry Styles.”

“She must be preparing then,” Liam nodded. “I’d do the same if I was his fan.”

“Preparing?” he frowned. “For what? Has he got a concert around here?”

He watched as Niall and Liam shared a look in front of him.

“He’s playing at Madison Square Garden in the summer…” Niall murmured.

“Then why are you saying Lauren is preparing for something?”

“Honestly Louis do you ever pay attention when they announce the hosts and musical guests?”

Well, he usually does. But with the holiday season being so busy this year he sometimes gets lost in the constant work week after week, especially if the host doesn’t make themselves known during their stay. But he knew for a fact Sir Ian McKellen was the host for this week. So that means…

“Is Harry Styles the musical guest?”

“Bingo!” Niall laughed. “Took you long enough to get there.”

“Oh,” he murmured. “Well the song Lauren was singing wasn’t too bad.” He’ll have to look up his discography on Spotify. Later, though. Now he was curious about what he looked like. Did the voice match his face?

“Do we have a picture of him?” he asked to both of them. "I don’t want to confuse him with someone else once he stops by.”

“Turn around,” Liam said as he nodded behind him. “They just tacked on his headshot on that bulletin board last night.”

Louis shrugged and did as he was told. He doesn’t know what he expected to find, maybe someone decent looking, short hair probably, maybe even a red head, but he gasped aloud as he saw it.

Those same chestnut curls, those same green eyes. Staring back at him. A cheeky grin on his face. Except he wasn’t seeing them in person anymore; he was seeing them as a still photograph, the grin permanent and gaze unwavering. _Shit._

“Louis?” he heard a voice say, probably Niall since it had an Irish accent. “You look pale.”

Had the color drained from his face? He wouldn’t blame it. He too wanted to run and hide from the glare of this poster, even if it wasn’t the human being they hooked up with.

“I-I know him.”

Harry Styles. As in the man who Lauren was singing along to. So _that_ was his name. The man who had that beautiful voice was the same man who got down on his knees and gave him one of the most mind-blowing blow jobs he ever had. His mouth really was talented. And apparently everyone in the world knew it (hopefully not the part of the blow jobs though) but him. Fantastic.

“You know Harry?” Niall frowned, the uncertainty apparent in his voice. “But you just said you didn’t?”

“I-um.” he shifted his eyes between them. Instead of facing his problems like a grown up, he groaned and slammed his head into his forearms, that were thankfully waiting on the firm table ready to catch him. “The bastard didn’t even tell me his name! Just blew me in the airport bathroom and left,” he grumbled against the table.

He heard one of them gasp. “He gave you a blow job? When?”

“When I was coming back from Stan’s wedding,” he groaned again. “This is all your fault!” he pointed at Niall. “You were the one who made me get first class tickets. If I hadn’t, this never would have happened.”

“My fault?” Niall argued. “Thanks to me, you got a blow job from one of the hottest stars on the planet! Which reminds me,” he paused for the dramatic effect, “rumor has it he has a big cock, true or not?”

Louis’ mouth dropped open. “I am not about to discuss that with either of you.”

“The blush on his cheeks says rumor confirmed,” Liam said as he leaned in close to Niall, both of their eyes still on their petrified friend. “Don’t you think?”

“Affirmative,” Niall said in his best imitation of an American accent, which he has learned to perfect over the years.

“You two are absolutely no help,” Louis grunted, putting his forehead down on the table again.

“Oh come on, Lou,” Liam said. “You’ll just have to shake his hand and smile for the week, and then you’ll never see him again. It’s not like you haven’t shaken his hand before.”

Louis could feel his blush rising again, hoping his facing the table would at least cover it.

“You didn’t even shake hands,” Niall burst out laughing. “He just went straight for your cock! Honestly, Lou, where do you find these men.”

“Is this something we should tell Lorne?” Liam asked.

“You really want to go and tell Lorne one of his cast members got it on with the musical guest before our Christmas episode airs? I’m pretty sure he would be like ‘right on!’ but you keep worrying,” Niall said as he patted his back.

“Is he coming to the studio today?” Louis suddenly asked, his head up again.

“Who? Lorne?”

“Of course, he’s here,” Louis rolled his eyes. “I meant Harry.” It felt nice to actually have a name for the man now, but he still would have preferred to find him another way. Maybe a chance meeting at a bar, or while shopping, not his place of work.

Liam shook his head. “He’s stopping by tomorrow,” he said. “He offered himself for some skits and Lorne jumped on that.”

Okay. Okay he could do this. It was manageable; right? He has an entire day to mentally prepare himself. Then he would be perfectly fine once he would see him again tomorrow.

At least that’s what he told himself throughout the day. Sir Ian McKellen was their host for the episode, and he was on time for their scheduled meeting. He was dressed in a red knit sweater and his beard was rather long. He was a Santa hat away from being mistaken for the jolly old fellow.

“It’s such a pleasure to be hosting again,” Sir Ian said warmly as he went around greeting as many people as he could. Louis greeted him with a hug as the old man recognized him from some of his skits, sharing a few laughs as he told him which were his favorite bits. Once all the cast members got their hellos, they all filtered into the large meeting room, with Lorne sitting with the head writers and Sir Ian.

Louis usually sat next to Liam or Niall when it came to these meetings, but in the rush of everything they were seated near the head writers, which meant Louis remained with the rest of the cast.

“And we heard Mr. Styles is expected tomorrow?” he heard someone ask as the remaining people took their seats.

“Ah yes,” Sir Ian nodded. “His manager told me he just finished a leg of his world tour on Saturday, and he’ll be ready to join us tomorrow morning.”

Perfect.

Louis tried his best to listen into the pitch meeting, knowing he had to give his own ideas for some skits. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Harry. Now his mystery man had a name, and a famous one at that. He resisted every urge to google his name right then and there, wanting to know everything about him.

But he knew Kate, who was sitting beside him, would easily see what he was doing and grill him on it. Probably assume he had a crush on him or something. Which he did, but it’s not something he needed his colleagues knowing before Harry even did.

They ended the day with a massive collection of ideas, and Lorne felt satisfied with the direction of the episode. As soon as he finished talking with some of the writers, Louis basically sprinted home, his head running wild with anticipation.

Once he made it back to his apartment, he couldn’t turn on his laptop fast enough. Sure, he could have googled this all on his phone when he was alone during the day, but he felt dramatic and wanted to search everything on his computer.

After sprinkling the correct amount of food in his fish tank and greeting his three swimmers, Chad, Michael and Murray, he went straight for the couch and made himself comfortable. And by comfortable he meant drape a grey blanket over his head and end up looking like Maria from _The Sound of Music_.

A celebrity. He just _had_ to have a bathroom blowjob with a man that was probably worth millions. And he was probably one of those celebrities that just fucked around with everyone they could find, just someone to share his bed for the night. Aren’t those the type that blow random people in airports? Except Louis didn’t even make it to his bed, and he didn’t know whether to be offended or not that he didn’t.

The tiniest bit or rage brewed in the pit of his stomach, and he found the urge to hate him for something. Anything. Petty, he knows, but he deserved something after not knowing who he was the entire time.

With a short huff, he scooted closer to the coffee table and started to type “Harry Styles” into the search bar. And within a few scrolls, he found there was nothing he could get mad about.

Insanely wealthy. Spends a lot of his money on charities. Animal lover. Wants to be a father ASAP. Writes a lot of love songs. Really loves his guitar. Has a fondness for old men. Likes bright colors. Has a cute bum. Nominated for a few Grammy’s. Is currently on a world tour for his second album, Multiply. Which is how Louis assumes it’s supposed to be pronounced since the only real title is “x”. Somehow, it seems very Harry-like, even if he doesn’t know him that well.

And of course, probably the best information he found so far: openly gay.

If he thought he wanted to propose on the spot because of his cock sucking skills, Louis was already half in love with him. Fucking fantastic.

He went to YouTube and searched his channel, since he did find his music to his liking and he might as well dive into the world of Harry Styles, since he wasn’t going to literally dive in him anytime soon. After watching some of his music videos, which were absolutely magnificent even if Harry rarely featured himself in them, he jumped over to iTunes and bought both of his albums.

He spent the rest of his night listening to them, closing his eyes and hoping to feel like Harry was right in front of him again. After just laying on his bed with the Bluetooth blasting it in its entirety, he already had a few favorites, if not the entirety of the albums. That man had a gift, and he was so happy that he was sharing it with the world. Again, his singing abilities; not the other wonders he could do with his mouth.

Before he knew it, he was five pages into the YouTube search feed on any and every interview Harry had done, bookmarking each and every one to watch later. He couldn’t resists clicking on the screencap of him sitting on a couch doing an interview from a few years ago, when he was a just baby-faced musician trying to get his big break.

_“Are you looking forward to all the girls you’ll see on tour?” the interviewer asked as she pushed a large microphone in his face._

_“Hm?” he stared at her with wide eyes._

Louis realized that was one expression the current Harry hadn’t outgrown.

_"Oh. I don’t know really. I’ve wanted to be domestic,” he declared. “Marry someone and start a family.”_

_“You hear that ladies?” the interviewer exclaimed with glee. “He’s looking for a wife!”_

Louis found himself laughing when he noticed exactly a year after that interview was posted Harry actually came out. The irony of such things, really.

He decided he had enough of his discovery of his mystery man and turned his phone off as he took off his headphones. Once he was under the covers, he started to think of all the scenarios tomorrow would bring. Would he be surprised to see him? Would he ignore him? Would he even remember him? Would he want to talk about what happened? Who knows, maybe he could propose right there like he planned to at the airport. But Harry would never want him like that; he had to remember he was just another hookup for him.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Tommo,” he said aloud to himself with a deep sigh. He swiftly turned off the lights and tried to sleep, hoping it would quickly take him away from his thoughts.

~

On most Tuesday mornings, he always felt at ease as he prepared for work, putting together his casual outfits and hoping to get some skit finalizations later on in the day so he knew what he would film for the week. But there was never a Tuesday morning where he knew he was going to meet his former hookup at work. And now he had to put some decent thought into his outfits, right?

Then again, he was wearing sweats and completely dressed down during their first encounter, and Harry still came onto him. But he still wanted to look like he made an effort in his clothing choices. If he liked him in his sweats, then he wouldn’t mind seeing him in more flattering outfits.

He chose a pair of jeans that were fitted well, and a navy wool sweater that Niall had given him as a gift from Ireland (which he also brought out his eyes with the color). With a final look in the mirror before fixing his hair once again, he headed down to the studio.

As expected, he couldn’t take his mind of Harry as he walked down the crowded streets. Probably because he was listening to one of his songs, “Bloodstream”, through his headphones, which probably didn’t help his predicament. It didn’t make him any less nervous for their eventual reunion in an hour or so, even though he knew he shouldn’t be. Maybe he isn’t that bad. Just maybe. But that didn’t stop the butterflies that were beginning to form within.

He soon found Liam in his office, hurrying to get his materials for the meeting.

“Has he arrived yet?” Louis queried, watching his scurry around the room. He could have been helping him, but it was more fun to stand by the door with his arms crossed and chuckle.

“Harry?” he asked, looking up from his papers. “No he hasn’t, actually. Supposed to be here in the next ten minutes or so. Sir Ian is here, though.”

Ten minutes. Perfect amount of time to get over his crush, hopefully.

“Are you nervous?” Liam asked, realizing Louis didn’t reply.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” he murmured with a sigh.

“He’ll probably be a gentleman about it,” he assured. “All the backstage stories I’ve heard of him say he’s an absolute gem, so stop worrying. It was just a measly hookup.”

Louis rolled his eyes. On paper, maybe. Maybe it was just a hookup. But he couldn’t deny the energy they had towards each other from the minute he sat his cute bum next to him at that bar. He wouldn’t even have remembered the event had it had been someone else, but before realizing who he was, he still spent many nights, sometimes with his hand down his pants, thinking about their encounter.

No one is going to understand that; no matter how much he explained it to himself.

Eventually, they found Niall and made their way to the meeting room, gathering around with the rest of the cast as they waited for Lorne to show up. After a few minutes of talking to Colin about an idea for his Weekend Update skit, he heard his boss coming through the doorway.  

“Everyone?” Lorne announced, walking in with an entourage of people Louis didn’t recognize. “This is Harry Styles.”

A man stepped out from behind him and proceeded to greet everyone, and Louis did everything he could to hold back a moan. Harry looked just as good as he did when he last saw him. The man was wearing black skinny jeans, maybe even jeggings, and another Hawaiian shirt for a print, this one with butterflies and flowers, even though they were in the middle of a very cold December. His hair was down now, the curls flowing freely around his shoulders, looking fresh and bouncy.

He went around the room, shaking hands as he greeted, carefully trying to avoid hitting his bum against the table as he moved around from person to person. Louis felt himself sweat as he grew closer to him.

“Isn’t he beautiful?” he whispered to Liam.

“He’s…” it sounded like he was fishing for a word, “decent.”

“Decent?!” he whispered harshly. “The man belongs in a DaVinci painting! Are you blind?”

He was already offended on Harry’s behalf, if he was being honest. How can someone not appreciate the beauty that he is?

“Not my type, Lou,” Liam shrugged in response, mouth dropping open as he spotted someone behind him. “Especially when that model of a man that just walked in with him.”

Louis was too busy looking at Harry to notice said man, who standing near Lorne, deep in conversation with another man next to them. He noticed a few interns blushing and giggling as they walked past them, and he didn’t really blame them.

The other man had a chiseled jaw, and a gaze that could melt all inhibitions. He had to admit he was beautiful, but… he wasn’t Harry.

“Who is that supposed to be?” he whispered, noticing how they stopped to talk with Lorne for a bit.

“His manager, Zayn Malik,” they heard beside them. They turned to see Normani, another intern they got along with, eyeing them, clearly trying to hold her laughter in. “You two never learned how to whisper have you?”

“Thanks, love,” he smiled. At least Liam had some new information about his crush. But having to watch Harry work the room only increased his dread of having to see him again. He’s going to get a handshake himself, and it should be sad that they never even did _that_ when they met.

And before he could mentally prepare himself enough, he found Harry standing in front of him, his hand out for him to shake.

“Hello,” he said, “I’m Harry Styles.”

Well, he knew that.

“Harry Styles, huh?” Louis said as he took his hand, feeling himself getting a bit warm at the contact. “Louis Tomlinson.”

He expected for Harry to at least look a bit surprised, maybe even shocked to see him. But instead he just saw the other man give him the same smile he was greeting the rest with, lips curved in amusement.  Those lips he didn’t even get to kiss.

“Mr. Tomlinson,” he replied. “Pleasure to meet you.” And then turned his attention to Liam, who already had his hand out ready to shake.

Well now his mind was just losing it’s shit. Did he really not remember him? Did he hook up with men so often that they were just faceless cocks? He knows it’s kind of pointless to assume the other man would feel anything about a one time basically anonymous blowjob, but he couldn’t act like his pride didn’t take a hit. He wasn’t _that_ easy to forget.

It's not like he expected Harry to outright say “Oh I remember you! Lovely cock, 10/10” but at least some acknowledgement about what happened between them would be nice. He could have added a simple "again" at the end of his sentence. 

He spent the remainder of the morning trying to not be obvious with his ogling, but still hoping he could catch a glimpse of him. Harry was sitting next to Sir Ian near the head of the table, clearly getting along with the old man.

During their lunch break, he found himself next to Nick Grimshaw, one of the producers on the show, as they walked back to the meeting room. Ever since Louis arrived at SNL, he didn't particularly like Nick. Maybe their personalities didn't quite mesh or something, but he tended to stay away from him.

“Did you see Harry?” he asked as they walked together. “What a fine piece of man.”

Louis remembered that Nick liked to hook up with whoever he could find, especially men younger than he was. And he found himself getting jealous at the thought he would be trying to get in Harry’s pants.

“Don’t even try,” he grumbled. “Isn’t he too young for you?”

“Twenty is perfectly fine and we’re both adults,” he shrugged in response. “I don’t see the problem.”

“You never do,” he muttered. If Harry really didn't remember him and Nick was about to try to get into his bed during this time here, this week was about to be hell.

They walked back into the meeting room, hoping to finalize which skits they would begin to practice for or film already. But one of the producers was talking to Sir Ian about his time on the Hobbit set, which they just finished filming for, and that steered the conversation away from their usual talking points.

“Harry actually wrote a song for the second film!” Sir Ian exclaimed as he turned to Harry, who was now sitting across from Louis, making eye contact harder to avoid.

“I went on set for a few days and loved it there,” the younger man answered with a nod. “Peter had me watch an uncut version of the film, and then I just wrote the song a few hours after. The franchise is simply fantastic and it was a fanboy dream of mine to do something like that.”

“And he even came on set,” Sir Ian grinned, “The entire cast loved him as well.”

“Did you love any of the cast back, Harry?” one of the producers pipped up. “I heard Evangeline Lily sure is a fine woman.”

Well that producer didn’t get the memo of which way Harry Styles swung. It took multiple chants inside of his head to keep him from opening his mouth, hoping to at least relieve Harry out of that situation.

“She is beautiful,” he coughed. “But um- I was weak in the knees once I met Richard Armitage, and Luke Evans, and Lee Pace…”

Louis heard Kate try to cover her laugh as they watched Harry try to politely correct the woman on her false assumption. It’s 2014 for pete’s sake. It’s not fair to assume everybody is straight.

The woman frowned. “I don’t understand? Why them and not Evangeline?”

“Take the hint, Alicia, he’s gay!” Niall exclaimed, and the room erupted into laughter. Thankfully Niall had less self-control than Louis, and it helped them both out on more than one occasion. He looked across to see Harry giggling as well, briefly making eye contact with him.

“Well back to the real questions,” Sir Ian chuckled. “We’re so excited to have you here, Harry! Zayn was just telling me you’re a big fan of the show?”

“Massive,” he smiled as he looked over at Louis, meeting his eyes. The older man felt his face heat up at his gaze. “I watch it every Saturday night or Sunday morning, depending on where I am in the world.”

Oh. Oh. Harry knew who he was. Harry already knew who he was when they met. He sat down at that bar knowing he was Louis Tomlinson. And he didn’t know who Harry was. Bastard. But a lovable bastard that he still wanted children with.

He tried to hide his smirk as he doodled on his notepad, the only thing he could do to not openly ogle his future husband again. Doodling “Harry Tomlinson” with little hearts around it maybe wasn’t the best way to deal with his crush, but he should indulge himself once in a while. All he really wanted to do was have a chance to pull him aside and talk, hoping to at least stay acquaintances, if Harry wanted after all.

In the meantime, Louis only stayed in this meeting so he could hear which skits he was going to be featured in and wanted to start getting some jokes written as soon as possible.

“Could we please do the skit?” he heard Niall ask, looking up to see him pleading with a few producers.

There were audible groans around the table.

“You lot never let me do anything,” Niall grumbled as he sat back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“What skit?” Harry asked, his interest clear on whatever Niall had to say.

“Niall has been asking to do Celebrity Family Feud all season,” Liam explained. “And he keeps getting shot down because we’re focused on Celebrity Jeopardy.”

“But Harry would make the perfect Mick Jagger!” Niall huffed as he pointed at said man. “And I’ve been begging Louis to be Bowie for ages! So if you all just listen to what I’ve been saying-“

“I’ll do it,” Harry cut in, smiling at Niall then looking at Louis. “As long as your Bowie wants to as well,” he said as he turned his full attention to him, hoping for a response.

Well, he couldn’t really say no now. Not when Niall and Harry were both looking at him with such eager smiles.

“Yeah, I’m up for it,” Louis replied, causing some of the writers to already put their brains together to head the script, ideas being thrown around before he could finish agreeing.

He found Harry still smiling at him, and his heart melted at the attention. Such a sweet man, and so unattainable at the same time. Louis really did try to pay attention for the rest of the meeting, but he was too busy replaying their little interaction in his head.

At the end of the day, Louis found himself in two skits with Harry: a LOTR parody and Celebrity Family Feud. The only live one was going to be the latter, so the former was reserved to film on either Thursday or Friday. It looked like Louis’ plan to avoid Harry for the rest of the week wasn’t totally foolproof. He let out a sigh before he left to go home, going to find Niall or Liam to say his goodbyes for the day and then making his way to the elevator.

“Hold it, Louis!” he heard someone call out behind, and saw Nick running down the hallway to catch the elevator. He huffed as he half heartedly pushed the “door open” button, leaning half of his body against it.

“Thanks, pal,” Nick grinned as he leaned against the other wall, eyes glued to his phone as he tapped away. “Did you finally see how attractive that Harry boy is?”

Louis was a millisecond away from declaring just how attractive he did find him, and vice versa, thanks to the last flight he took.

“I didn’t really,” he replied, watching as Nick finally lifted his head to face him, “I was too busy doing what I’m paid to do.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “It’s not as if you can’t multitask, _Lewis_. Besides,” he shrugged. “He probably has a boyfriend.”

A boyfriend. Shit. He never considered that. He wouldn’t. Would he? And he didn’t appreciate the blatant mispronunciation of his name that he always stated he hated.

“And what makes you so sure?”

“Have you seen him?” Nick chuckled. “He’s got to have one.”

Harry is gorgeous, but that doesn't mean he had to be in a relationship. People have a right to stay single for a variety of reasons. But then he remembered that one interview that caught his attention: “I’d like to settle down”. Maybe he wasn't one to stay single for too long, then.

“If you think he has one, then why are you still thirsting after him?” He felt gross thinking he would go after a man who was taken. At least he was ignorant to it when they met.

“Because monogamy isn’t for everyone, dear. And he looks like the type that doesn’t care for it, so I have nothing to lose in offering myself.”

Before Louis could reply, the elevator dinged open and people were waiting to file in, pushing against them as they walked out. Nick rushed out, and since he didn’t wait for Louis to give him a response to his assumption, he simply left as Louis stood there with a deep frown on his face.

That was a dire assumption to make, given that Nick had no factual information on what kind of person Harry is or his personal thoughts on monogamy. Who was he to say something like that? Yes, monogamy wasn't for everyone, but judging by the songs he sung, he was always looking for love and thinking about marriage. The seventeen year old wanting a family so young and continuing to say so during his career as he grew up doesn't seem like one who wouldn't want to stay monogamous with his boyfriend.

The thought still hung on him as he walked home, wrapping his scarf around his face a little tighter as the cold wind hit him.

After making it home nearly frozen, he made himself some dinner, thinking over the day as he ate.

He couldn’t lie and say it didn't hurt a bit that Harry had possibly forgotten him since they met, but now the thought of him not even being single opened a heavy pit in his stomach. It didn’t even occur to him that Harry could have a boyfriend already, hopefully not at the time of their airport encounter. He had to know if it was true, though, and turned to his phone to search what he feared.

With his heart ready to break, he typed in the dreaded three words into the Google search bar: “Harry Styles boyfriend”

What he was met with was a black screen, because he realized he closed his eyes and refused to see the results page. With a sigh he opened them and started to scroll, and his heart sank as he read the first headline.

**“Harry Styles Goes Shopping with Model Boyfriend in Milan (CLICK FOR EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS)”**

So he was taken? Shit. Fucking shit. He threw his phone onto the couch across from him, sinking back into his seat. The man had a boyfriend, _a boyfriend_. And there he was sucking another man’s cock in an airport, and if Nick gets his way, his too. All those feelings, not that they were rational in any sense, had been one sided the entire time. Harry Styles _was_ the type of celebrity to have hookups wherever he went. What made Louis think he was so special?

Tomorrow they would start shooting their skits, and fuck him if he didn’t want to see Harry’s face.

~

For once in his life, Louis didn’t feel like going to work. He woke up with a heavy feeling in his stomach, and it no doubt had to do with Harry. He contemplated calling in sick, maybe say he caught a stomach bug or something, even though he rarely got sick. Anything to get him away from Harry.

And it’s not like he could take it out on Harry. He had a boyfriend. He never made it clear, but he didn't really bother to ask when he was going down on him. It only made him want to kick himself for not seeing it before, or at least getting to know a guy better before you go blow your loads off.

Even though he was trying to not letting him affect him, he had a hard time hiding his emotions on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Liam asked him as they started getting their scripts for some of the skits, writing some notes over what they would change or where to make a better joke. “You’re barely making any notes, or even telling me which of my jokes are too corny for your taste.”

“I could just be nicer to you, Li,” Louis said without looking up, continuing to scribble some notes down even if he wasn’t really paying attention. They were sitting by some makeshift tables by the stage while crew members were putting up sets behind them. He hoped everyone would have been too busy to notice his change of mood.

“When pigs fly, Lou,” he chuckled, looking up from his paper. “Now really, what’s wrong?”

Louis let out a sigh. “He has a boyfriend,” he murmured as he put his pen down. “Harry does,” in case he needed to make it clear.

Liam gasped. “Does he? Oh shit, Lou,” he whispered as he looked around. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I guess I’m used to falling for shitty men,” he laughed bitterly. “I just hoped this one might have been different.”

“Does Niall know?”

Louis shook his head. “I haven’t seen him today-“

And almost as if on cue, Niall walked in with a crowd of people, and Louis’ breath hitched as he noticed Harry was part of it. He looked beautiful once again, from his curls to his pretty shirt, a greyish print with swirls, just beautiful. Then again, no matter how mad he could be at the man, Harry could wear a potato sack and he would still be beautiful to him. And it scared him to think that could mean he was actually in love with him, but that was something to reserve for another time. He had enough on his mind as it is, and it involved trying to ignore Harry.

“Alright everyone,” an assistant director, Dave, announced as he looked down at his papers. “Listen up! Louis, Niall, Cecily, Beck, and Liam? Join Harry on stage so we can shoot some promo shots.”

Louis glanced over at Liam and he groaned internally. This wasn’t going to help his plan. And he would have stuck to it, prove that he wanted nothing to do with him, but once Harry gave him a soft grin as they stood next to each other, his heart melted once again. Why must he fall for men who are so unavailable?

They did multiple takes for the laughs, including the boys holding Cecily in the air. At one point, Louis felt Harry’s bare arm against his own as they held onto her side. He wanted to gasp, realizing how much he craved to touch him since their encounter, and it made him a bit melancholy to think about it.

He even looked at the monitor to see what they were looking like and seeing himself so close to him really made his heart skip a beat. But then he realized Harry made eye contact with him over the monitor, and he almost flat lined. He almost took the chance to speak to him, hoping this was his chance to talk about what happened, but then the director announced Sir Ian had to be filmed with Harry and wanted the rest of the cast members off the set.

“Louis,” Liam hissed as they headed toward the hallway, walking away from the stage. “You have to talk to Harry.”

“Why?” he grimaced as he made them stop by the large doorway, “Did you not hear what I told you this morning?

He wasn’t in any mood to strike up a conversation with Harry of all people.  

“Well put that aside for a second, for my sake,” he said. “Because his manager is my future husband and I need to find a way to talk to him. You’re the ticket to that.”

Louis groaned. “And you gave me shit for wanting to marry Harry after he blew me. At least we had physical contact before I wanted to pop the question. And what makes you think I’m going to talk to his manager?”

“You know,” he shrugged. “I’ve been pretty lonely since Nate left me all those months ago, and you said yourself I needed to get back out there and date again. Here is me trying.”

Louis sighed, remembered how depressed Liam had become after his boyfriend of four years left him for someone else. Too many nights of tears, tissue runs to the local grocery, and reruns of “Full House” made it hard to forget it. And Liam wasn’t one to get infatuated that easy, so it might mean _something_ that he was this interested in his manager.

“Fine,” he muttered. “I’ll see what I can manage.”

Liam cheered, placing a sloppy kiss on his cheek as he held him tight. “Thank you, Lou!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he giggled as he wiped his cheek. “When should I do it?”

“Now,” Liam assured.

“Now?” he looked around. He couldn’t even see where Zayn was, or even if he came with Harry.

“He’s standing over there with Harry.”

And sure enough he was, their heads leaned towards each other as they looked to be discussing something, judging by Harry’s hand movements.

“I look like I might be interrupting something,” Louis murmured. “Besides, what would I even say? ‘Hey there Mr. Malik, my best friend would really like to bone you.’?”

Liam blushed profusely. “No! Make something up, but anything but _that_ , Lou.”

And with that Liam pushed him towards them, scurrying away and probably going to find Niall. As he walked toward them, he realized Harry saw him walking in his direction, his eyes growing wide. Louis hoped his own face was kept neutral, but as he got closer he watched as Harry muttered something to Zayn and walked towards his waiting band, essentially leaving his manager.

And Louis felt pretty offended by it, almost taken aback. He not only didn’t acknowledge him more than a friendly smile, but now didn’t want to be near him? It’s not like he was going to bring it up out of the blue or in front of the cast.

He sighed as he walked up to Zayn, who gave him a small smile as he held his hand out.

“Zayn Malik,” he greeted.

“Louis Tomlinson,” he smiled.

“What can I help you with?”

“I um” he looked over at Harry, who was currently in deep conversation with his guitarist standing far from them. He couldn’t possibly hear what they were saying. “It looked like you needed a break from whatever you were talking about with your client.”

That sounded believable, right? He usually gave a rats ass about what stuck up celebrities were fighting about on set, but he could fake interest when it was needed. Those drama classes at uni didn’t amount to nothing.

“Nah,” Zayn laughed. “Just a minor disagreement. I love Harry to death, but sometimes he’s as stubborn as a mule. I tell him he needs to perform his other single for his second performance on the show, but he wants to do another, less known one from his album. I might be inclined to let him do it if he actually picked which song he wanted to do, but the fate’s hate me and gave me a client with the decision making of a toddler,” he chuckled.

“So he hasn’t picked a song yet?” Louis wondered. “But don’t rehearsals start today?”

Zayn shook his head. “We have ‘til tomorrow to give the final decision, but I like to make sure he gets enough practice to calm his nerves before a performance.”

“I see,” Louis nodded. “Well, I personally like ‘Runaway’ from his album, if that helps.”

“You’ve listened to his album?” Zayn asked, the surprise clear in his voice.

“As much as the rest of the world has,” he chuckled, not telling how he basically binged on his music earlier that same week.

“Interesting,” he mused.

Zayn didn’t sound like was going to say anything else, and if he wanted to tell him about Liam, he had to think of something fast to keep the conversation going.

“So is Harry’s boyfriend going to stop by?” he asked, hoping it sounded as casual as possible. Thinking on his feet probably wasn’t the best idea this time.

Zayn looked over at him and frowned, not responding immediately.

“Partners often accompany the hosts and musical guests while we’re on set,” he continued to ramble. “Tom Hanks’ wife is an absolute gem! Zoe Saldana’s husband is amazing. So yeah I just wanted to know if I’ll get to meet any other famous people.”

Why did he have to be such a bad liar. At least Zayn didn’t seem to call him out on it.

“Sorry to disappoint,” he chuckled, “but Haz isn’t seeing anyone at the moment. So no celebrity moments I can promise you.”

“Single?” he nodded as he looked around, trying to hide the excitement that crept up his throat. “I thought someone like him…” he trailed off. “You know. Would have someone.”

Zayn shook his head. “Nah. He only likes to do serious relationships; casual not really being his thing. He broke up with his last boyfriend a few months ago, and I think he’s just enjoying the quiet before jumping into the dating pool again.”

Months. _Months_. That article he found was probably an old one, probably a year old. Shit. He was angry at him this entire day for nothing.

“You sound like you’d like to see him with someone,” Louis remarked.

Zayn shrugged. “I’d like to see him happy, and he seems to be happy when he’s in a relationship. He’s an old romantic, really. Claiming he’s just searching the world for his soulmate. He actually thinks he met him a few months ago,” he snickered.

“He did?” he asked hopefully. It was probably someone that was more his type, but he can dream that Harry might have thought more of him than just a hookup.

It was then like a switch flicked inside of Zayn, and he coughed into his fist. “Sorry,” he said. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. You don’t care about some introverted artist that I have to literally beg to go out to clubs sometimes.”

Oh did he care. He cared about everything this man had to say about Harry. His gym routine, his morning breakfast, what he was allergic to, everything. Now that he knew he was single, and hopefully looking to mingle, that tiny bit of hope crept up on him again.

“I don’t mind,” Louis chuckled, hoping to sound calm enough.

“I’m a much better negotiator when it comes to contracts I figure,” Zayn laughed at himself, “but since I gave you information that you’ve already signed an NDA for…” he looked around the set, as if he was trying to spot someone. His eyes landed on a group of cast members who were standing beside the other stage. “What can you tell me about that lad, the non-blonde one in the black shirt?”

Louis looked over, and almost wanted to laugh. It turned out to be Liam, who was currently rehearsing a skit with Niall and Sasheer.

“Liam?”

“That his name?” he whispered. Louis noticed how soft the features on his face had become as he watched them.

“Yeah?” he half expected Liam to look over at them, but for once he was too busy looking over the script to realize his crush was ogling him back.

“Is he single?” the other man inquired.

“I think he is right now,” Louis replied, not trying to reveal how long he was actually single. He might as well make Liam look a bit unavailable at the same time. “But who knows for how long. He's quite a catch, isn't he?”

“Yeah,” Zayn sighed, still watching his every move. The man was gone for. Louis figured they were standing there for a few more minutes before Zayn's eyes widened and realized what he was doing. “Um-"

“No worries, mate,” Louis patted him on the back, “Just go strike up a conversation with him. You might be a bit surprised at what you find.”

“Yeah?” was all Zayn managed to answer as he started to stare back at Liam again. It was almost too intimate to the point Louis felt like he shouldn't be there.

“Yes, Zayn, just talk to him,” he sighed before walking away. Staring at their crush from far away and never talking seemed to be a thing Liam had with Zayn, so they were clearly suited well enough for each other. Just one of them had to make the first move, and hopefully soon.

Louis had other matters to deal with, like the fact that Harry was indeed single and he did not play a part in any cheating affair of the sort. It was a relief really, and it made him that much more excited to see him.

He decided he had to talk to Harry as soon as he could, but the remaining days were so filled with filming time they barely had time to even look at each other in between. They would rehearse together, sharing looks that Louis deemed probable enough that he equally wanted to talk with him.

Before he knew it, it was Saturday night and they were preparing for their last show of the year. Louis figured his only chance to talk to him would be before the show started, but as he walked around Studio 8H, Harry was no where to be found. He went up to Zayn to see if he knew where he was, but even he was having trouble pinpointing where the singer was. Resigned, he went back start getting ready for the show. He would just have to hope to see him later.

As he went to grab something in one of the dressing rooms, he ended up running into Nick, who already looked a bit drunk from the celebratory shots some of the cast had done earlier.

“Lou!” he drawled. “So nice to see you!”

Louis sighed. “Likewise, Nick.”

“I think I’m getting laid tonight,” he grinned, a shitty smile that he knew Nick saved when he wanted to be petty.

“What are you talking about?” he said with an eye roll, leaning on a desk.

“I've been able to talk to Harry during the week,” he answered, “and I think he likes what he sees. So friendly and inviting, really. I can't wait to see what he's like in bed.”

Louis found himself gripping a nearby desk so hard his knuckles turned white.

“I think he might be interested in someone else, Nick,” he gritted through his teeth, still trying to maintain politeness.

“Oh, shoo,” he waved his hand. “Who could that possibly be? I’ve been able to spend the most time with him on set this week, so if they’re any cock he's going to be getting, its _mine_.”

That did it, and he didn't give a damn who heard at this point.

“Well you know what Nick?” he shouted. “He’s actually sucked my cock, so I think I’m at a slight advantage here!”

Nick gasped. “You what? You slept with him already?”

“Who’s sucking whose cock?”

Louis turned towards the door and found the one person who did not have to hear this conversation (well besides his mother and Lorne probably), already dressed for his performance, nipples out and everything. Shit. 

“Louis here is making up lies, that’s all. Nothing to trouble yourself with, Mr. Styles.”

Harry looked over at Louis. “And what lies might they be?”

“That you’ve sucked his cock,” Nick huffed. “Absurd, I tell you.”

Harry blinked back at him, finally turning to face him. “Oh. I have. And I very much liked it. Wouldn’t mind another go at it actually.”

Louis’ jaw dropped as he watched Harry smirk as he walked toward both of them, shyly asking for Louis’ hand and beckoning towards the door.

“I told you I wasn’t lying,” Louis said after awhile, his mouth with a huge grin. He walked away towards his dressing room, not being able to stop smiling as he held Harry’s hand. The younger man pulled him inside and shut the door quickly, Louis was almost sure he could hear how fast his heart was beating.

“So, you do remember me,” Louis smiled, liking that he was stating a fact and not a question.

“Remember?” Harry squawked. “You’re all I’ve thought about since then! I’ve had a massive crush on you since you joined the show! I’ll admit I was a bit offended you didn't know who I was, but I guess it made the experience better. Especially since I knew you weren't trying to get with me because of my fame.”

Well. That was a bit to process.

“So you’ve been a fan of SNL this entire time? And knew who I was?”

Harry shrugged as he blushed. “I remember the first episode you appeared in, and no sooner had your time on air finished that I already googled your name and found out everything about you. I was a fan before but…” he smiled. “I had more reason to watch after you joined.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” Louis asked intently. “I was clearly into you before I knew who you were!”

“Because…” he sighed. “You didn’t know who I was.”

“We’ve established that.”

“It’s just-” he watched him swallow. “I know I’m not like… _Beyoncé_ famous, but I am considered a celebrity,” he smiled sheepishly. “You don't exactly have the best track record with celebs.”

And that’s when Louis remembered about his Twitter spat with a particular celebrity who had been rude during his stay. After he was being distinctly rude to several of the interns, Louis made a scene backstage after the show ended and cursed him out. He later went on twitter and politely stated his grievances, essentially calling out the entitlement of certain celebrities, and the celebrity was forced to make a public apology to the cast. After that, he tended to ignore the celebrities that appeared on the show, even if he heard nice anecdotes about them from his colleagues. It was better to not pin too much hope on people that might have inflated egos. But Harry was clearly not one of them, thank god.

At least he knew Harry’s brain liked to make an, albeit fair, assumption based on minor details. They were more suited than he thought.

“I thought if you knew what I did for a living you wouldn’t want to do what we did.”

“Well next time you blow a dude at the airport,” Louis chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I hope you let him show you how much he really is interested in you. Artist, family man, whatever you are.”

“Next time? I _kind_ of don’t want to pick up another guy at an airport, Lou,” he smiled shyly as he reached for his hand again. “I kind of just want you.”

Louis felt his heart burst. His dream was coming true. Thank you again, gay angels.

“After the show, yeah?” He said as he took his hand, squeezing their fingers together. “We can talk then. And hopefully more.”

“Definitely more,” Harry groaned, leaning over and pecking his cheek, leaving Louis with a blush.

After Louis gave him a lingering kiss on his cheek, they both rushed off to get ready for the show.

He couldn’t remember feeling so giddy to do the show. His excitement almost matching the feeling of his first episode as he started getting his clothing changes ready. And it was surely going to be a show to remember.

He watched as Steve Martin rushed to the stage to go sit in his famous armchair, ready to do the Cold Open with another rendition of “3 Wishes”.

He laughed along as Sir Ian did his opening monologue. His topics included how nice it is to see so many gay people, giving a special mention to Louis and Harry.

“Isn’t it wonderful to see so many gay young people these days? Just backstage you’ve got Louis Tomlinson, and the wonderful singer Harry Styles. It’s nice to know that my appreciation for the male body is being passed down to the younger generations.” The crowd laughed as he grinned at his joke.

As another skit was playing, Louis got himself into costume to do Celebrity Jeopardy. Crystal, their makeup artist, had done a spectacular job getting him into his Bowie-esque makeup, complete with a tight jumpsuit that they found in the costume department earlier in the week.

As the directors were counting down the commercial time, Louis ran to the stage to take his place, already seeing Harry there in his Jagger outfit. They shared a smile as he stood next to him, and the skit went live. Louis almost broke character as he watched Harry do his impression of Mick Jagger when it was his turn to speak, and he hoped he was able to impersonate Bowie well enough. Judging by the audience reaction though, they did wonderfully. Though Sir Ian’s Maggie Smith impression might have helped with that.

They giggled at each other as they walked off stage, Louis waving goodbye as a stage hand directed Harry to another dressing room, this time to dress for another sketch that was coming soon.

Once Louis got out of his costume, he found a monitor to watch Harry’s next skit: naughty elves that want Santa Claus to do certain things to them. Sir Ian was dressed as the famed jolly man, and Harry was sitting on the bench in front of a green screen with the rest of the elves. Louis couldn’t help ogling him in those green tights, the famed thighs on full display.

“Spank me, Daddy Claus!” he heard him yell once the skit neared the end, and the crowd roared with laughter as Vanessa and Keenan broke character. Louis found himself laughing as well, but also a little turned on. Nobody had to know the last part.

A few more skits and it would be Harry’s turn to grace the stage by himself and sing his heart out.

As Harry’s band got ready, their Lord of the Rings skit was playing for the crowd. It was pretty easy to film, since it was the LOTR cast as members of “The Office”. Even though he was featured with Harry in that skit, they didn’t need to be filming at the same time and had missed his chance to see him. But seeing him in his Legolas outfit trying to speak like Orlando Bloom was worth the wait. He also had fun in his own elf costume, playing a teenage elf that was an intern and just wanted to go back to home to Rivendell. Again, a killer response from the crowd, which always made him happy.

Louis made his way to the side of the stage, staying in the side lines as he watched Harry and his band prepare for their song. Sir Ian even came over to him and wished him some luck before walking to the designated spot to announce him.

“And now ladies and gentlemen,” the Sir Ian nodded. “Harry Styles.”

The crowd applauded as the opening chords started to strum through the speakers. Louis knew he had to be getting ready for Weekend Update, but… he just wanted to stand there and take in this performance. After hearing the snippets during rehearsal while he was working, he wanted all his sense there when he watched it for the first time. It’s not like he had a real costume to change into anyway.

He watched as Harry effortlessly played the chords, who stared down at his own fingers before lifting his head to the microphone, blinking before he began to sing.

 _“Give me love like him,”_ he crooned, his eyes half open.  
_‘Cause lately I’ve been waking up alone,_  
_Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt,_  
 _Told you I’d let them go,_  
  
_And that I’ll fight my corner,_  
 _Maybe tonight I’ll call ya,_  
 _After my blood turns into alcohol,_  
 _No, I just wanna hold ya.”_

Almost as if he knew Louis was standing off stage, Harry turned his body to look directly at him, a smile in his eyes as they fell on him.  
  
_“Give a little time to me or burn this out,_  
 _We’ll play hide and seek to turn this around,_  
 _All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_  
 _My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_  
 _My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_  
 _My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_  
 _My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_  
 _My, my, my, my, give me love,”_

Louis tried to hold back his tears. He heard this song on the album, and considered it to be one of his favorites, but hearing it live with the emotion Harry was singing with… it made his heart hurt. He wanted to love the boy that wanted to be loved so bad. He would do it with such care, if he let him.

As Harry neared the end of the song, Louis could only watch in wonder with a twinge of sadness as he saw him sing the final lines.

 _“My, my, my, my, oh give me love,_  
My, my, my, my, oh give me love,  
My, my, my, my, oh give me love,  
My, my, my, my, oh give me love,  
My, my, my, my, oh give me love.”

 _“Love me!”_ he yelled into the mic. _“Love me!”_

“I’ll love you,” Louis whispered aloud.

 _“Give me…”_ he took a deep breath before continuing, “ _love.”_

The lights went out with his final note as the crowd roared with applause. The normal lights came back on to show him bowing and throwing kisses at people, as if he wanted to thank every audience member personally for listening. As he turned back to his guitar after they cut to break, he saw Louis standing off stage, a large wall hiding him from the audience.

Harry smiled shyly as he gave a small wave, and Louis was shaken out of his thoughts as he gave him a thumbs up and a huge grin.

“You did amazing!” he mouthed, hoping he would understand.

“Thank you,” Harry mouthed back. And quickly walked off stage as the stage hands were directing him to.

Louis went to get ready for his segment, which thankfully was the last part of Weekend Update. He needed a bit of a recovery period after seeing that performance.

He watched Leslie and Liam discussing something as she was getting ready to go on to do her thing. Her usual bit of flirting with Colin and a rant about her personal life in some way.

The director announced they were back on air, and he heard the familiar opening of the segment and the all too familiar voices that accompanied it.

“Good evening everyone I’m Colin Jost.”

“And I’m Michael Che, and here are this week’s top stories.”

He listened as they each did their jokes for the news stories, chuckling at some of them as he started to take his seat on his rolling desk chair.

“This week,” Colin began, “Studio 8H had a mini British invasion of sorts, with Sir Ian McKellen coming back to host and Harry Styles serving as our musical guest. Here to talk about this is our resident British Young Person, Louis Tomlinson.”

The crowd clapped as Louis rolled over, grinning as he waved to them.

“Hello Colin! Thanks for having me,” he said as he folded his hands in front of him.  

“Thanks for being on, Louis. So what do you think about the British Invasion we’ve had this week? Feeling more like home? In case the viewers at home couldn’t tell, you are British.”

“Did my accent gave it away, Colin?” he teased, the crowd chuckling in return. “But you’re right, it does feel a bit like home. Seeing more people running around with tea bags in their coat pockets made me feel like less of an outsider here, so there is a positive side to this.”

They continued to banter back and forth until Louis’ favorite line came up.

“Did you notice Harry Styles, though?” Colin asked. “What are your thoughts on him?”

“That Harry Styles is pretty cute isn’t he?” he grinned at the camera. “Amazing voice, and definitely a looker.”

“I’d say,” Colin smiled. “I know you always had me questioning my sexuality, but I think he might be taking my cake, if you know what I mean.” The crowd laughed as Louis looked him over.

“I think Harry might have a craving for British cake, Colin,” Louis replied, a smirk on his face. “if you know what _I_ mean.” And judging by the snickers, the audience did too.

They ended the skit on a good note, and Louis rushed off to go prepare for the other skits he was in. 

Eventually it came time for Harry's last performance, and Louis could only watch from a dressing room this time as he had to change costumes. 

For Harry’s second song though, he realized he had chosen one of the lesser known songs from his album, but that turned out to be one of his favorites.

“Runaway,” he gasped as he dropped his shoe, staring down the monitor in front of him. So Zayn had suggested it to Harry, and he ended up choosing it. Maybe the man really did love him.

At the center of the stage, Harry was standing by the microphone once more, his guitar strung over him once again. As he started to sing it, Louis realized how much better Harry’s songs sounded when he sung them live. They were amazingly produced for his albums and still very enjoyable but hearing and seeing how good of a live performer he was made him want to buy front row seats for the remainder of his tour. Hopefully, that might just happen if things go well tonight, remembering their earlier discussion.

Louis almost sang along as he reached his favorite part of the song:

 _“I love him from my skin to my bones,_  
_But I don’t wanna live in his home,_  
_There’s nothing to say ‘cause he knows,_  
_I’ll just run away and be on my own”_

Once he finished, the crowd gave him a loud round of applause, Harry sighing with relief that he was finally done singing. He took a short bow and continued ritual of throwing kisses towards the crowd. He gave a final one to the camera, and Louis secretly hoped it was for him.

There was only a few minutes left in the show, and he rushed to go find Harry. Zayn gave him a knowing smile as he led him to his room, knocking once before opening and pushing him through.

“Oh,” he gulped as he saw Harry getting dressed, buttoning up a sheer black embroidered shirt. “Hi?”

Harry looked up, his lips forming a soft smile. “Hi. I’ll be done in a second.”

“You were absolutely amazing out there tonight,” Louis said as he watched him zip up one of his boots. “Both as an actor and singer.”

Harry blushed at the praise. “Thank you, Lou. I hope I didn’t mess up too much.”

“You were perfect,” he said proudly as Harry walked over to hug him. Louis loved the way Harry fit in his arms, almost as if they were made to fit like that. God, he was so gone for him.

As he looked at the monitor and realized the remaining cast finished the final skit, Louis was getting ready to make a run for it. “Come on!” he whispered as he tugged at Harry’s hand, grabbing his coat from the nearby hanger.

The other man blinked back at him. “What?” he looked down the hall and saw crew members running around, who were also getting their jackets on.

“Every year I beat Niall to the rink at Rockefeller Center and I am _not_ losing this year because of you!” Louis said as he handed him his coat. “Now move it, bambi legs!”

Harry quickly found himself in an elevator that Louis was desperately trying to close before he saw the other cast members sprinting down the hallway trying to catch it. He could hear Nick calling out to hold the elevator, but Louis grinned as the doors closed in front of him, Harry clearly next to him.

“Why are we running out of the studio?” Harry said as he shrugged on his coat that Louis was holding for him. “Don’t we have to be there for the goodbyes at the end?”

“It’s a Christmas tradition! Instead of staying for the goodbye finale, some of the cast runs down 30 Rock and goes to the ice skating rink in front of the building, where there’s already a camera waiting and we get to say our goodbyes there.”

“Oh,” Harry said as he bit his lip. “I can’t skate.”

Louis playfully rolled his eyes. “You can hold onto me then.” Harry pecked his cheek in thanks, leaving Louis with a slight blush on the spot his lips touched.

The elevator dinged, and Louis pulled him outside, running as fast as they could in the cold air. Once he put on his own skates, he kneeled before Harry and tied his up. Most of the crew were already there with their cameras, but Niall was no where in sight, which meant another year won for Tommo.

He did eventually make it though, and before he knew it Sir Ian was standing in front of the camera wishing the audience a happy holidays and signing off.

As soon as Louis gave a few waves, he looped Harry’s arm with his and started to speed off. He quickly realized the younger man wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t skate, because all he could do was grip onto Louis’ bicep tightly as he pulled them along.

He convinced Harry to skate on his own for a bit, just to try it and see if he did have it in him, but in true woodland animal spirit, he tripped on his feet and was about to fall bum first on the cold ice, but Louis caught him just in time.

“My hero,” Harry giggled, clearly relieved he wasn’t alone anymore.

“My prince,” Louis smiled, nuzzling their noses together before he kissed his cheek. He looked up and smiled at what he saw. “Looks like Liam convinced Zayn to get in the rink as well.”

“What?” Harry laughed as he looked behind them, and sure enough the pair were skating arm in arm. “Well pinch me. I never thought he would ever get on ice, given that he can't skate either.”

“Like you did?” Louis grinned.

“Yeah,” Harry smiled back, pulling him into a hug as he claimed he was cold. Louis knew he was warm, judging by how his hands felt, but he let it happen anyway. He was never one to turn down a cuddle, and certainly not one from this angel.

They attended the after party together as well, almost never leaving each other’s side. And after the struggles he had to go through after their first encounter, Louis didn’t plan on every letting him go. Niall ended up at their table, a grin on his face resembled the one Spongebob had when he found Squidward in the Krabby Patty Vault.

“So I guess airport hookups are the way to go, huh?” Niall ribbed as he drank another shot of tequila.

Louis looked over to find Harry blushing, trying to hide his smile. “I’d say so,” Louis grinned as he put his arm around the younger man’s shoulders.

“This was the man you blew in the airport?” Zayn gasped, who happened to be walking by their booth and was currently leaning over Harry.

Louis frowned. “Did you not tell him?”

“Well,” Harry smiled sheepishly.

“This bloody,” Zayn slapped him upside the head, gently of course, “ _idiot_ had me thinking he just blew some random bloke in the airport. I was praying for days that whoever it was wouldn’t go blabbing to some tabloid about it! But no, of course you knew who it was. Bastard.”

“I had my reasons, Zayn,” he giggled, rubbing his head where Zayn hit him. “There was no harm in it, and you knew I’d be careful.”

“Careful,” he snorted. “Of course you would do that. Getting to shag your wet dream at the airport.”

“Wet dream?” Louis’ squeaked as he stared at Harry with wide eyes. He did say he was a fan, but he didn’t think it was _that_ far.

“Let’s just say he accounts for 70% of the views on that one skit where you’re a gay stripper,” Zayn said with a smile, “and he usually watches it alone at 2 am with some lube.”

“Zayn!” Harry hissed as he pushed at his chest. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like trying to feel up Liam?”

Louis giggled as he watched the blush creep on Zayn’s face. “I’ll see you later, Harry,” he coughed before walking away.  

“You liked that skit, love?” Louis prodded.

“Shut up,” he murmured, a small pout on his face.

“Don’t worry, Haz,” Niall babbled. “After your airport cock sucking, Louis went on and on about how you sucked him off like a porn star and would marry you on those skills alone.”

“Niall!” Louis yelled, throwing a wadded napkin at his head. He heard Harry start giggling beside him.

“I guess we’re even now,” he said in between giggles, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

They continued chatting with others that stopped by their table, even Sir Ian who was more than happy to see them holding hands.

“I knew you two would make a wonderful couple!” he exclaimed with joy before walking away. And Louis couldn’t agree more, with Harry one step away from sitting on his lap with how close he was.

“You’ll come home with me?” Harry whispered to his ear. “Right?”

“As if I’m every letting you go again, Curly.” He watched as Harry tried to hide his grin, hoping he felt the same as he did. He meant it. He didn’t want to let him go. He wanted to wake up to him every day.

“I don’t want to drink too much,” Louis said as he finished his glass. He leaned over and whispered in Harry’s ear. “Because I really want to remember how hard we fuck tonight.”

“Zayn?” Harry called out as he pulled away.

“Well that’s not whose name I want you calling out tonight,” Louis grumbled, holding him tighter.

Harry giggled, a blush to his cheeks. “No, silly. I want him to call my car near the back so we can go to my hotel. I don’t want to waste another moment with you.”

“Ah, right,” he coughed. “Have you ever…?” He trailed off, hoping Harry would understand what he was asking. Not that he cared that much, but he would like to know if there was something more between Harry and his manager.

“With Zayn?” Harry scoffed. “Never. More like a brother to me than a mate. And I’m pretty sure your friend is the one who wants to be calling out his name tonight,” he said with a nod towards one of the booths, where Zayn was clearly whispering in his ear to a giggly Liam, red in the face from his blushing.

Louis smiled as he watched them, hoping Zayn would bring Liam all the happiness he deserved.

After saying goodbye to all the cast and crew they could find, one of Harry’s bodyguards led them to the back where a car was waiting. Harry slid in first and Louis second, both bristling with excitement. Louis could hardly contain his joy at the fact he finally found the fit man from the airport, and it turned out to be this wonderful human being. Well, maybe not so human if he watched him closely.

As they rode in the car, Louis looked over at Harry, noticing how hard he was trying to hold back his giggles.

“What’s so funny?” he prodded, squeezing his hand.

“You’re going to hate me if I tell you.”

“Unless you vote Tory or anything in that mindset, I would never hate you, Haz,” he giggled.

The other man grinned then. “Alright!” he cleared his throat before leaning closer to him, hoping to keep it private even though they were alone in the back seat. “I would really like to taste your _schweddy_ balls.”

“Harry!” he gasped before bursting into more giggles, more than sure he was grinning so hard his eyes disappeared. “ _That_? As a pick up line?”

“I’ve already _sacked_ your deck,” Harry giggled. “Why not your delicious balls? They are warm aren't they?”

“You are a menace,” Louis snickered in between laughs. “Using classic skits to pick me up?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said I loved the show, Lou,” Harry continued to laugh, obviously proud of himself for the puns.

And Louis found himself even more in love with him than he was a few minutes ago, if that was even possible.

They arrived at the hotel a short while later, thankful that there were no paps around to photograph their arrival. He wanted to keep this night as special and private as possible.

Once they were inside and Harry led him up to his room, Louis pressed him up against the shut door, not wanting to wait another second to get his hands on him.

“I never got to kiss you,” Harry whispered, staring down at his lips.

“Oh thank fuck,” Louis said. He wasn’t the only one who was yearning for it.

He noticed Harry’s face fall a bit. “Did you not want to kiss me?”

“Harry,” he said as he took his face between his hands, looking directly into those gorgeous eyes he was so fond of. “Ever since that day at the airport, I had two big regrets. Not getting your number, and not getting to kiss those beautiful lips of yours. Though the image of your lips from that day did serve as great wank material for a good few weeks after.”

Harry giggled, clearly elated at the news. “Did you really think about it?”

“You have no idea,” Louis whispered with a smile, and pulled him in closer, finally pressing their lips together.

Their tongues met as their lips dragged, and like that _George of the Jungle_ scene, he’s pretty sure there are fireworks going off behind them. He felt Harry moan against him, pressing himself more firmly as he deepened the kiss.

And he’s hooked. This is his soulmate. This clumsy, adorable, tadpole of a man. That he _finally_ gets to fuck. And even if he waited weeks to do this, to finally has his lips on his, he didn’t feel the need to rush things. They had all night, and possibly, if he’ll have him, the rest of their lives.

“Off,” Harry murmured as he snaked his hand under his shirt.

After a few more kisses, which grew more heated as Louis pulled him in closer and started grinding his crotch against the other man’s, he pulled back to face him.

“Are you sure you want this, Harry?” he whispered.

“More than sure, Lou,” he pleased, leaning forward to give him another kiss. “Just need you to fuck me,” he kissed him again. “You can tie me to the bed,” Harry murmured against his lips. “Use me any way you like.”

Jesus. He was going to be the death of him.

“You’re going to kill me, Curly,” he whispered before rubbing his tongue along his plump lower lip. “Because I _so_ want to tie you up and have you begging for it.”

He was surprised to feel Harry shiver against him.

“Do you want me to do that?” he whispered against his ear, feeling how much harder Harry held onto him, “tie you up?”

“Please,” the younger man begged, a rasp to his voice that went straight to Louis’ cock.

Oh. So this was happening. Louis blinked at him and nodded, guiding him to the bed.  

“Okay,” he said as he sat down. “Before we’re too far gone, we need ground rules, and that means a safe word.”

“Okay,” the younger man contemplated for a moment, eyes lighting up once he had his answer. “Kiwi.”

“Kiwi?” Honestly, he shouldn’t even be surprised at that answer.

Harry shrugged. “Kiwi’s are tasty. And juicy. And sweet. Like how I expect this sex to go.”

He started to giggle uncontrollably, Harry joining in once he saw his reaction. “And I thought I was the one with the jokes,” Louis got out as he caught his breath. “You’re not too far behind, love.”

Harry snickered. “You think I only liked you for your pretty face, Lou? Your sense of humor was part of the appeal of Louis Tomlinson, and you hooked me with that,” his eyes traveled down to his front, where Louis was obviously, and almost obscenely, tenting. “And that hooked me even more. You tasted amazing.”

“Good to know you enjoy the taste,” he giggled. “Alright then, undress and lay on the bed. I’ll go find something to tie you with.”

“There’s rope in the top drawer of the dresser by the bathroom,” Harry stated as he started to unbutton his shirt.

Louis blinked back at him with raised eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

Harry's eyes widened as he realized what he said. “Um-“ he bit at his bottom lip. “I travel with rope?”

“For bondage or do you just have a nautical obsession with it?” Louis asked, trying to keep it lighthearted.

“Bondage,” Harry chuckled a little as he eased up, sliding his jeans down. “I do a lot of self bondage when I’m away and have some time on my hands, so I end up traveling with it.”

“Seems reasonable,” Louis agreed, finding said rope and pulling it out from its hiding place. “Did you use it often with others?”

Even if it made him a bit jealous, he had to know the level of experience Harry had with this stuff. Louis used to tie up some partners in the past, and even got himself tied a few times, but it was more of a one off thing to just try it, not continuously do it.

“I had a partner that would tie me up sometimes,” he admitted, shedding the last of his remaining pieces of clothing. “but it was more to please me than for him. He wasn't really into it that much.”

“Oh,” Louis said softly, walking over to him and admiring his nakedness. “Well I would very much enjoy doing this with you, Haz. As long as you want to.”

“I very much want to, Lou,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss him. Louis responded by putting both of his hands on Harry's love handles, gently pulling him to his front. Harry was half hard against him, but as Louis rubbed the hardness of his jeans against him, it only made him grow harder until he was panting against his mouth.

It really shouldn’t surprise him that Harry had a bit of a pain kink, but he enjoyed learning everything new about him.

“Get on the bed, love,” he whispered, and after giving him another deep kiss, Harry complied.

Louis carefully tied both of his hands to the bed posts after putting enough pillows under him, checking to make sure they weren’t too tight but still secure.

“You okay?” he asked, making eye contact with the younger man, who nodded eagerly in response.

“Come on, Lou,” he begged. “Fuck me.”

And it was a wonder Louis didn't come on the spot as he took in the sight before him. Harry looked so good, his pale skin against the cream sheets, the sweat gleaming off him, his curls a mess over the pillow, eyes blown out. All before Louis even started to pleasure him.

He quickly stripped down to nothing, taking out the condom from his pants pocket. He thought to grab some before he left his office, hoping it might be needed with Harry for a quickie or something. But now it’s turning out to be even more than that, and he couldn't be happier.

He slid the condom on himself, spitting on his hand before using it to rub himself, all while Harry watched him.

“Where's your lube, baby?”

“In this drawer,” he said with a nod toward the nightstand. Louis walked over and took out the large tube, which was about halfway used.

“Use it much?” Louis smirked.

“I like to open myself up every night,” he stated, unashamedly as he smirked a bit.

“Do you now?” he said as he popped the cap and drizzled some over his cock. He leaned over and did the same for Harry's. Once he was satisfied with the amount, he proceeded to rub it over him, eliciting a moan from the headboard as Harry strained against the rope.

“You alright?” he asked, working his hand over the younger man’s cock, sticking him as best he could.

“Yes,” Harry breathed, eyes glued to his ministrations.

“Good,” Louis said simply, and proceeded to straddle his lap. Harry gasped as he felt the head his cock rub against Louis' cheeks, who then pushed against him to give it more friction against the slickness.

For five tortuous minutes, that’s all Louis would do. Slowly grind his bum against Harry's hard cock, placing both of his hands on his chest to steady himself. One of his fingers brushed over a nipple, which brought out an almost squeak out of Harry. Louis knew he could hold out but didn't know how much longer his partner could last.

He decided a little more waiting would do them both good, so he raised his hips a bit and gripped Harry's cock firmly. With a steady breath, he placed the head near his rim and started grind against him. It was the best kind of tease to get them even hotter. The slick of the lube made it even easier to move, both of them panting with each glide.

“Lou,” Harry pleaded, moans escaping his lips. The curls by his face were sticking to the skin. “Fuck me.”

“What?” Louis swiveled his hips again. “You’re going to have to be louder, baby.”

“Fuck me, Lou,” he moaned aloud, gasping when his head almost broke through the rim. Louis had to bite his lip as he savored the moment.

“Thank you,” he grinned, and after a few more grinds against him and the head of Harry’s cock entering him for a few sweet seconds, he carefully got off his lap.

Making sure the younger man was still fine, he kneeled in between Harry’s opened legs, lifting both of his thighs and he tenderly rubbed the skin behind them. He spent the next few minutes carefully fingering him open, hid other hand making sure Harry stayed in place while he did. The man was a moaning mess above him, jolting in pleasure every time Louis pressed his prostate. Once he heard him mewl with three fingers in, he slowly took them out, hearing him whimper above.

“Are you ready?” Louis said as he gripped the base of his cock, hoping not to come already. He guided it to his hole, rubbing the tip against his rim.

“Please, Lou,” he cried out, his hips grinding against him.  

He entered Harry, his sweet heat enveloping him, and the younger man gave one of the loudest moans he had ever heard. Thankfully this was a large suite. He had to pause as Harry adjusted himself to the stretch His curls were a mess on his forehead yet again, even prettier than they were the first time they met.

“Move, Lou,” he moaned again, and Louis couldn’t stop himself after that. He slammed into him, matching every moan with his thrusts. He was mesmerized by the way Harry was responding, loud and clearly enjoying what he was doing. It almost sent him over the edge knowing he had caused Harry to look this way, fucked out and aching for his cock.

Once he felt he was close, the took one of Harry’s thighs and brought it up higher and closer to his chest, allowing him to deepen the angle and almost be chest to chest. Harry’s face was in front of his own now, and he gently placed some kisses over his face, licking away at some of the sweat. This wasn’t the type of sex he had on a hookup, he realized, or even a second hookup. It scared him how much it felt like he was fucking someone he had known for years already, but once Harry made eye contact with him again, only moaning and pants coming from his lips, he saw Harry felt the same. They didn’t have to say anything, but their eyes spoke instead.

He was in love, so so in love. Hoping every inch of his thrusts would be able to show that. As if Harry could read his thoughts, puckered his lips, asking for more kisses. Louis easily complied, their tongues matting as they groaned together.

But since Louis was too busy falling in love, his body hadn’t stopped responding to Harry’s pleasure and soon he found his thrusts becoming chaotic as he chased his orgasm. Harry beat him though, because suddenly he stopped kissing him back, and he just shook against him as he came between them, coating both of their chests with his cum as he pulled harder against his restraints, laying pliant against the pillows once he finished.

Seeing him spent drove Louis over the edge, and he came hard in him, spilling into the condom as he groaned. He almost fell on Harry’s chest, but didn’t want to make more of a sticky mess for them. He rolled over next to him, catching his breath as best he can.

“Kiwi?” he heard beside him and his eyes flew open to find Harry with a sheepish grin, eyes looking up at his hands.

“Oh sorry, baby,” Louis giggled as he sat up and quickly untied his restraints, noticing the red marks against his pale skin, placing a gentle kiss on every mark.

“You did so well, love,” he whispered. “I’m going to get you some water, okay? Just relax.”

“Okay,” Harry breathed out, eyes closing to relax. After peeling off the condom and throwing it in the bin, Louis quickly made his way to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth, cleaning himself first before getting another to bring it Harry. He carefully cleaned the drying come off his chest and belly and throwing it aside once he felt he was clean enough.

“Big spoon or little spoon?” Louis questioned, eyeing the bed. Harry popped one eye open, staring at him.

“Little spoon,” Harry declared, beaming up at him. Of course he was. Louis chuckled as Harry scooted to the other side as the other man climbed in next to him. Once Louis opened his arms, Harry easily made himself at home on his chest. Louis ended up with a mouthful of his hair, but he couldn’t care less.

“Was it for me?” He asked, their breathing finally leveling. “Your last song?”

“Almost everything I did this week was for you, Lou,” Harry explained softly. “As soon as you were finished talking to Zayn, I rushed over to get a full report on you. Zayn liked you, which is a lot of him since he doesn’t like many people right off the bat, and he said you suggested a song for me to sing. I just told him to give it to my band and I will play whichever it was.”

Louis knew it shouldn’t mean much to him, but that simple gesture brought a few tears to his eyes that he quickly blinked away. This boy was perfect.

“You know, the minute I found out you were going to be the musical guest, I googled you with the full intention to find something I didn’t like about you, so I can actually be mad that I never knew who you were at the airport, but I ended up falling for you instead.”

“You fell for me?” Harry whispered.

“What we did at Heathrow? I’ve never done that before. I take maybe a month before I get intimate with someone. But with you I just lost all those inhibitions…” he trailed off, gently poking at the muscle on the younger man’s arm.

“You were my first hookup,” he admitted, which took Louis by surprise.

“Was I really?” he whispered.

Harry nodded, not meeting his eyes. “I only have serious relationships, because that’s what I’ve always wanted in life, you know? Find a husband, start a family. I knew I wasn’t going to find that just hooking up with random men. Most were always looking for a quick fuck, and I wasn’t down for that.”

“Is that why you broke up with your boyfriend?” he asked, almost regretting to ask. It’s not like it was any of his business.

“You know about my ex?” Harry frowned.

“I um-“ he grimaced at the memory, wanting to come clean about it, “Someone told me you were dating someone at the moment, and I took it upon myself to see if it was true. And I thought they were right, because I found an article with your pap pics together, but it just turned out to be old news.”

“Ah I see,” Harry nodded. “We broke up months ago. He said he didn’t want to settle down anytime soon or in the future, so I made the decision to part ways. No point in staying with someone who made it clear they wouldn’t share your future with you.”

And with that, Louis found himself admiring the younger man even more. “Well,” he smiled shyly. “I want you to know that I definitely see a future with you, Harry. For as long as you’ll have me.”

Harry smiled so wide it looked like his dimples were ready to burst out of his cheeks. There was even a certain wetness to his eyes, and Louis hoped he wouldn’t cry or else he would start too.

“Louis Tomlinson,” he laughed wetly, his nose sniffling. “Have you proposed to be me before we are even officially dating?”  

“Is it wrong? Because I was planning to ask for your hand in marriage while you were blowing me in that airport bathroom,” he giggled.

Harry gasped. “Are you serious?” he asked as he looked up to meet his eyes.

“Too much?” Louis arched an eyebrow as he looked down.

“No!” Harry shook his head furiously. “No um- well now I don’t feel so bad.”

Louis giggled. “Why? Why would you even feel bad in the first place?”

“Because the entire flight to Los Angeles,” Harry chewed at his lower lip, “I was thinking of how many children we would have after we got married.”

And they say fate is not a thing.

“Are you shitting me, Styles?” he gasped, his face with a grin of disbelief.

“Completely serious,” he giggled. “I guess you’re not the only one who was falling that day.” He placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “Because I fell for you too.”

“Will you be mine?” Louis asked earnestly. He would have liked to have asked him that by their second date but considering how marriage was already on the table without them being in an actual relationship, it only seemed fair to speed up the process. “Boyfriend? The only man I want to be texting every second of the day or the one getting to kiss you like this,” after thumbing his plush lip with his thumb, he removed the digit and placed a kiss on his lips, tongue sliding inside his mouth once Harry opened up to him.

“Yes,” Harry groaned against his lips. “I want to be yours, Lou. So bad,” he said before pressing himself against him again, almost cutting off their breathing with how hard he kissed him. “I feel like I’ve known you for… ages,” Harry whispered as he pulled back. “I never felt this comfortable with someone. Never done bondage this quick.”

“Yeah?” Louis gazed at him with hooded eyes, reaching up to cup his cheek. “I feel the same, baby.”

And after about three more rounds of what Louis considered mind-blowing sex, no ropes this time, they finally fell asleep in each other’s arms, and Louis couldn’t help but feel his heart leap at the way Harry smiled in his sleep.

“I love my Lou,” he murmured before taking another deep breath.

If Harry had said that wherever his cats were is where his home is, then Louis felt the same way about Harry. It doesn’t matter where he used to call home; he found his place with Harry, and it was to be by his side for the rest of their lives, while rescuing more cats in the process.

~

They celebrated Christmas like any normal couple, visiting family. Despite his audible groans, Louis could only be endeared when Harry proposed sex by playing him “Do It On My Twin Bed (Twin Bed)” and they did exactly that while they stayed at their family’s homes. However, he had absolutely no reservations when part of his birthday present was Harry doing his own rendition of “Dick In A Box”, which they both enjoyed more than they would admit.

But by New Years Eve, Harry knew exactly what he had to say. “I love you,” Louis heard being whispered to him as they watched the fireworks in the freezing night, snuggled under a blanket they had brought out. The words were everything but said in the few weeks that they knew each other, from the way they looked at each other or how they just _clicked_. Both felt like they had known the other for years, and even if their time frame didn’t make sense, their love somehow did.

“I love you more,” he whispered back, kissing him gently as he cupped his face. As he deepened the kiss, Louis felt the younger man’s lips curve into a smile, leaning back to see what caused it.

“What’s so funny?” he whispered with a chuckle.

“I um- I’ve been wanting to tell you that since the morning after our first night.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he giggled. “But I didn’t want that to seem so unrealistic. Our love story is about as rom com worthy as it gets.”

“I’d say,” Louis said with a laugh, “I wanted to marry you the minute I first saw you.”

“And I still would have accepted,” Harry giggled, leaning up to kiss him.

Everything felt perfect, right then and there.

~

They both agreed they wouldn’t reveal their relationship until after the SNL season ended, to avoid any media scrutiny on the show and for Harry to finish up the rest of his tour.

If Louis already planned to ask Harry to marry him on the final night of his tour that summer, nobody had to know. And if Harry was planning to ask him on that same night, well… maybe they both should have told Zayn.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated :) [Rebloggable post.](http://goldbootsandvans.tumblr.com/post/181429148708/you-know-its-christmas-my-heart-is-open)


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